Seal River lodge owners left in the dark

I am replying to the op-ed Protected areas and thriving lodges can co-exist (May 30).

The author, Corey Myers, paints a rosy picture of the scenario in his Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area, the Thaidene Nëné IPCA. We certainly share many of his hopes. However, he ignores several critical facts, including one in his own area. I’ll also add that a local First Nation purchased his lodge and now employs him.

The operators in the Seal River love and respect this area. My operation is centred around local Indigenous benefits and employment and has been the biggest tourism employer of local Indigenous people since we opened in 1998. We have a much bigger operation than Mr. Myers, put through more guests and host trips in fishing, eco and hunting.

All the operators have asked for is a seat at the negotiation table and fair and proper representation in any governing board.

These operations are worth several million dollars and bring tens of millions of dollars of economic benefit to Manitoba annually. While there have been meetings, nothing concrete or substantive ever comes out of them. Discussions are pleasant and interesting, but no promises or guarantees have ever been offered or made, during or afterwards.

This process has been going on for three years, while the federal and provincial governments pour millions of dollars into promoting it. In the first two months of 2026, over $1.15 million in grants were given to two organizations to promote the Seal River Watershed. That is why the only commercial ads you see are from pro-SRW groups.

The outfitters were not shown the proposed map until a day before its release to the public and the public was only given 45 days to comment on a proposal locking in eight per cent of Manitoba’s land mass and spending tens of millions of dollars of public money.

Mr. Myers knows exactly what we are afraid of — but he does not mention it.

In 2014, another longtime existing lodge in his IPCA was denied an operating permit by Parks Canada after local Indigenous groups expressed opposition. The reason Parks Canada denied it was that “reconciliation and relationships with Indigenous partners are paramount for Parks Canada” and Parks Canada denied the lodge’s application without even reviewing its business licence application or giving the lodge an opportunity to respond to the rejection.

The lodge filed suit and a judge ruled that Parks Canada had “breached the rules of fairness,” overturned its decision, and instructed it to consider a new licence application.

Mr. Myers writes a “recent spike in misinformation about the protected areas could have a chilling effect.” Unfortunately, this incident is a fact. This is exactly why the operators in the Seal River Watershed are uneasy and need a seat at the table for governing the new entity and the exclusion of Parks Canada from the provincial park portion. We request the format stay the same, with the province controlling allocations and permits.

Mr. Myers also mentions the new area will “expand the regional tourism economy.”

I have not seen any major tourism developments built or proposed in his area since that IPCA was established. It is expensive to access these areas, and any tourism destination must be five-star to attract the customers who can afford this. That’s why the existing lodges are critical to any tourism success. An example is Manitoba’s Wapusk National Park. Other than the previously existing lodge, nothing new has been established.

The current operators in the Seal River Watershed ask only to be treated fairly and have our concerns and requests addressed with concrete proposals and working groups.

There is no proposed procedure for the transfer and renewals of our licensing and no set format for the eventual transfer of licences should lodge owners wish to sell their operations. Instead, we receive vague assurances that our proposals and participation are being heard and there will be more “forthcoming and continuing discussions.”

The federal government has already dedicated millions of dollars to this, with larger sums to follow. Proposals and work committees could easily have been established by now. Many people feel both the federal and provincial governments preordained this proposal long ago and are merely trying to outlast the public and private interests until it is established.

We share much of the same goals of the Seal River Alliance. We believe in local First Nations having a strong role in the protection and management of this area. I have long said that, if this proposal is handled properly, it could be a great thing for the area. But it could be an economic catastrophe for Manitoba if handled incorrectly.

To simply exclude the existing businesses from any real role or input makes zero sense.

This process is unfair and it has been since the start. Why?

Ken Gangler runs Gangler’s North Seal River Lodge.